Apparatus for connecting electronic devices to telecommunication networks are universally referred to as “modems” and they modulate the signal transmitted by the electronic device to the telecommunication network and demodulate the signal received by the telecommunication network and transmitted to the electronic device.
Within the present invention, the term “electronic device” comprises any device capable of being connected to a telecommunication network and exchanging data/voice therewith. A typical electronic device can for example be a computer, a palmtop, a mobile terminal and the like.
Currently, there are known and widely used apparatus which allow fixed telecommunication network connection of the xDSL type which provides a considerably broad bandwidth and offers the possibility to establish high speed data transfer connections.
Referring to FIG. 1, 101 indicates a typical apparatus for connection to a telecommunication network 150 comprising a fixed network 140. The apparatus 101 comprises connecting means 120 for connecting to one or more electronic devices 160 of a user, and an interface 121 for connecting to the fixed telecommunication network 140.
In order to connect the device 160 to the telecommunication network 150, the user is required to establish a connection to the fixed telecommunication network 140 by means of a connection apparatus 101.
However, apparatus of the abovementioned type have some drawbacks.
In case of malfunctions or failures in the fixed telecommunication network, the connection apparatus is not capable of maintaining the connection between the electronic device and the telecommunication network, for example to the internet network accessible through the fixed telecommunication network. In this case, the electronic device is disconnected from the internet network and the user can no longer exchanger data/voice with such network in that the connection is interrupted.
According to the points outlined above, there arises the need to have an apparatus capable of guaranteeing constant connection to the telecommunication network regardless of the operation status of the fixed telecommunication network with the aim of avoiding loss of data or the interruption of the voice communication during the connection of the abovementioned electronic devices to the telecommunication network.